Monthly Archives: May 2012

If you’ve been following along throughout the Spring, you probably have noticed I have a borderline obsession with the sheep on my street. I can’t help it! They are so darn cute and cuddly, and though I have tried to get out of my car on more than one occasion to get a closer look, they always run away. There is a new development on JT Farms, though. The sheep are now gone and there a lots of goats. Regular sized goats, baby goats, and one big fat one that seems to always escape the enclosure and gets to the other side where the grass is really greener. He doesn’t seem to want to run away…he only appears to want to have the choice pick of grass instead of eating off the hay pile like the rest of them.

Anyways, I noticed the other day one of the big goats giving one of the little goats a lesson. It looked like the animal version of “Billy Goats 101 for Dummies”. Basically what happened is that the little nugget goat went up on his back legs and the big goat would put her head down and the little goat would slam down to head butt her. The pair repeated this sequence about 3 times before they realized they were being watched-once they realized they had an audience they got stage fright. I sincerely think a lesson was being taught. Check out how cute these little babes are!

This is what goats do during the day…lucky little bastards.

Now, as for where all the cutesy little lambs went…I’m not sure. I’m going to pretend that they were not included as inventory in the “Lamb, Beef, and Eggs for Sale”. Who knows, maybe they are just getting their wool sheered off…it is pretty hot out there to be wearing a wool sweater for crying out loud! I will await their return! I do miss the sheep, but I can also appreciate that the goats aren’t as skittish…in fact, by the way they posed so regally for my photo shoot, I think they downright liked me!

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Today I ran a race unlike any other that I have run in the past. For one thing there was no timer, so I guess it wasn’t really that much of a race since you don’t know your time or place and there isn’t any prize for the winner. Additionally, this race was different because you get color thrown at you throughout the 5K course, hence the name “Color Me Rad“. So how does it really work? To quote the HILARIOUS website:

Start out as clean as a newborn babe, and throughout the run, you’ll coat your chaffing thighs with blue, green, pink, purple, and yellow until your face, shirt, and body come out silkscreened like a tie-dyed hippy on the other side. Yup…that is how you turn regular running into The Art of Running tm!

Each section of the run adds a new explosion of color to your clean, painter’s palate until you cross the finish line into a final blitzkrieg of color.

My work wifey created an amazing team The Rainbow Warriors that consisted of a bunch of our coworkers and some of their outside-of-work friends. We all gathered at Rentchler Field in East Hartford, CT before the race for some pre-race pics, fun, and of course – Jell-O shots. The race itself was a MAD HOUSE! there was around 7,000 people running the race, and many spectators along the way. There were many different “heats” and although you had to sign up for a specific time slot, once you got there, it really didn’t matter when you started…like I said, there was not time clock or winner, therefore, the whole ordeal was a colored corn starch free for all!

Along the race course there was 5 color stations that consisted of powder color or spray color…there were some (losers) who finished the race just as white as they started, but that wasn’t really the goal of The Rainbow Warriors! We went to get some color – and I think that’s actually the first time that I have said that when not referring to laying outside or on a tanning bed. After the race, you get your own color packet and everyone is encouraged to participate in the COLOR EXPLOSION! The color explosion is wicked fun, but just be warned – once everyone throws up their color there is little to no fresh air to breath…it was touch and go there for a second!

Take a look at how much fun we had, and try not to be too jealous! There are races all over the US, so it’s my recommendation to find one near you and sign up TODAY before it’s sold out!!

Before and after shot

me and my boy before and after

Ready for some color!!

me and my sis…and apparently Brooke LOL

Some hot gals after!

Me and Brookie! DEFINITELY worth a trip home from NYC!!

my hand POST wash…and no I’m not being attacked by a killer dog…thats just Taz!

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I‘m not sure if this is something that anyone else has every experienced, but if I had to guess, I would assume that there are some annoying Type-A people out there like myself that want to pull their hair out given the following situation.

When I go to the grocery store I go equipped. I have a list, and it’s organized. The items listed go from the left of store (at the Deli) to the right of the store (at the freezer aisle) – this is obviously the most logical and practical way to shop. RARELY do I have an impulse buy at the grocery store, but when I do it’s at the checkout aisle…COME ON…just try to tell me you don’t want to know if Jennifer Aniston is FINALLY getting married or having a kid!

Additionally, I bring my own bags…that is where it gets stressful. I hatewhen other people bag my groceries. I purposely go to a line where there is not a bagger posted up if possible. When there is a bagger I almost always tell them to “hold on because I have my own bags”, but then sneakily just start putting my groceries in my bags by myself, hoping that they’ll get the hint that I don’t their help. I’m not proud of it, but there have been a few incidences where I’ve actually asked…no, not asked, just flat-out told to stop the bagging process…and I may or may not have proceeded to unbag the food they’ve already bagged and resituate it into the “right” bag.

Ahhh…I can’t help it! I’m not trying to be a complete asshole, but I just don’t really want my bread to packed underneath the gallon of milk, or my chicken to be in the same bag with my fresh produce, or my 3 boxes of pasta to be in three different bags with various other items. None of those things make any sense. The absolute worst part of this is that the bagger is inevitably either a 85-year-old woman who is probably sweet as pie, but unfortunately due to her “life experience” is as slow as molasses, or some 16-year-old kid who has literally only worked 2 days in his whole life and just doesn’t “get it” yet. So, since I can’t really get angry with people on either end of that spectrum because they are probably doing the best they can, I just try to forgo the whole situation. In fact, when I put my rose-colored glasses on, I can see that I’m not being mean to these employees by not letting them bag my groceries, but rather I’m giving them a break from all their hard work…after all they do need to gear up for the rest of their shift!

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I recently went to the Hartford Area Roller Derby (HARD) season opener at Nomad’s in South Windsor, CT. Before I went to the event I didn’t know much about Roller Derby, but I figured it was a lot like the movie Whip It, which I also never saw. So basically I went down there with an open mind and decided to just “roll” with it. I went down with my boyfriend Ben and met up with our friend Jeff to support his girlfriend Lia on her team The Beat City Bedrockers. Let me tell you…this is not a sport for the weak of…well anything!

For those of you who are new to this whole Roller derby thing like me, here’s how it works: Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. Game play consists of a series of short match ups (“jams”) in which both teams designate a scoring player (the “jammer”) who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team. The teams attempt to assist their own jammer while hindering the opposing jammer — in effect, playing both offense and defense simultaneously. Sounds confusing right? Once you see it, you catch on pretty quick, but check out this pic for a better visual:

The whole day was really fun! All the players had awesomely badass names like “Bloody Shannonigans”, “Raggedy Anthrax”, and “Lolli POP-U” (who is my friend Lia in this picture here. Even the refs had good names like “Sheila E. Ject’ya”. As you can see from this picture, they also get to wear radical outfits!

The skating track was set up on a gym floor with chairs all around it. The front row aka the “suicide seating” was where we sat to see the Beat City Bedrockers! We just had to make sure we paid close attention so if any derby girls flew off the track we wouldn’t get pummeled! Ahh the joys of being a VIP!

First half warm ups – each team took turns on the track warming up. And by warming up, I mean skating, trying to get by each other, trying to knock each other over, practice falling down and getting up, and generally getting ready for some action!! Once warm ups were done, the jammers and blockers took their marks and really got down and dirty!

Jeff with a Lolli POP U sign for Lia!GO LIA!! Kick some butt!!

At half time we went outside to get some fresh air. It was literally about 95 degrees in the gym so going outside was completely necessary!

DING DING!! Round 2! The Beat City Bedrockers took the money and ran in the second half. Poor Shoreline (the opposing team) never stood a chance!

What a lovely shot of the winners! This picture makes me miss my high school cross country team – we used to take silly pics like this!

I wish I could have gotten some more action shots, but the girls were whizzing by so quick they were all blurry! It was really an awesome way to spend the day! There was TONS of energy in that room, and it just goes to show that girls are just as tough (if not tougher) than guys! If you’re a lady in the Hartford County area and you’re interested in receiving more information about Roller Derbys or are interested in joining the team, email info@hartfordarearollerderby.com! There is no experience necessary and all you need to bring with you to Ron-a-Roll (where they practice) is a mouth guard and a great attitude!! Even if you’re not interested in actually participating, I highly recommend that you go as a spectator! It’s not everyday you see unusual athletes like this! Crank it!

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I have this amazing plan for my retirement, and I just can’t hold it in any longer. People always talk about wanting to travel, and when they do they refer to faraway places like China, Australia, France, etc. I think that all of these places would be amazing to visit, and I have visited a few countries outside of the US myself and had a great time, but I also think it’s important to know the country that I live in.

If you take a look at the United States, we really have a lot going on. You’ve got the uptight pricks in New England (yes, I am from New England, but I really do feel that way most times…everyone is in such a rush, God forbid they take a moment out of their day to say hello or hold the door for you!), the dreamers of California (LA specifically – everyone’s got big plans…), the Midwest where time stands still (no seriously – every time I visit Iowa to see my grandparents I literally feel like I’ve walked into 1996) and the south, where I don’t even think they recycle. Each state has different landmarks, traditions, and natural beauty and before I die, I want to take part in all of it!

So anyways, back to the plan: When I grow up, and eventually retire me and my (currently non-existent) husband are going to buy a Winnebago, slap a map of the US on the side of it and for one year we are going to travel the United States. The plan is to spend approximately 1 week in each state. What will we do for Hawaii and Alaska which are either not possible to drive through or would take most of the week to get to? We’ll take week-long cruises for those two! All that driving and traveling is eventually going to get tiring and we’ll need to get some quality R&R! The best part is that with each state that we go to, we can color it in on the side of our RV!

So, as I start getting older, instead of being depressed of my age, I’ll have this amazing trip of a lifetime to look forward to! If that doesn’t get ya excited, I don’t know what would! Check out my sweet future Winnebago:

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If you grew up in the late 80s and early 90s like I did, the sweater shown here probably looks like something you had in your closet at one time. And, you probably wore it with some stirrups and keds…while singing along with Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy. It was really popular at the time…it’s similar to today’s legging/long shirt look, even closer now that neons are “back in”, but there is one big, stiff difference. Shoulder pads. Out of all of the outrageous fashions that have crossed my path in my 26 years shoulder pads are one thing I will never understand. Who was the genius that decided they should take a delicate woman and transform her into an offensive tackle?!

It just seems like women are always trying to look smaller, so I’m not really sure where this idea came from. So I did some research…apparently in the 80’s shoulder pads became a defining fashion statement, similar to the length of the point on stilettos in the early 1900’s (I’ll talk about that another day). This came to be known as “power dressing”. Those who had the best pads had the best status.

I’m not really sure what I think about this one…All I do know is that when I was a kid I had a few sweaters with shoulder pads in them and I absolutely refused to wear them until my mom finally cut them out. See, even back then I knew what was up. Just sayin!